Delving into her fractured relationship with her identical twin Jane, her love affairs, questionable parenting skills, and her time as a political activist, 'Dear Jane' finds Julie striving to understand how art is the ultimate expression of meaning—even when it's beyond her boundaries.

Blackout dates may apply. All sales are final - no refunds or exchanges. Offer subject to availability. Not valid in combination with any other offers. Normal service charges apply to phone and internet orders. Performance schedule subject to change. Offer may be revoked or modified at any time without notice.

Blackout dates may apply. All sales are final - no refunds or exchanges. Offer subject to availability. Not valid in combination with any other offers. Normal service charges apply to phone and internet orders. Performance schedule subject to change. Offer may be revoked or modified at any time without notice.

Blackout dates may apply. All sales are final - no refunds or exchanges. Offer subject to availability. Not valid in combination with any other offers. Normal service charges apply to phone and internet orders. Performance schedule subject to change. Offer may be revoked or modified at any time without notice.

"'Dear Jane' is a concept in search of a play, a bewildering collection of dramatic bits that pretend to lay bare the soul of playwright Joan Beber while revealing nothing at all...Theatregoers who spend money to watch a play about a woman writing a play about herself may not be amused...'Dear Jane' is more painless that you might expect, because the director, Katrin Hilbe, makes sure that her cast -- every one of them personable and a pro -- maintains a lively pace."
Full Review

“Whatever plot there is has to be pieced together from the shards of Julie's life flying by in countless bits and pieces…Unfortunately, very little is particularly dramatic, the characters are too vaguely conceived for audience empathy…and scenes frequently end almost before they've started. This 'now you see it, now you don't' approach creates so few opportunities for emotional development that the production's lack of tension makes its 90 minutes seem twice as long.”
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"'Dear Jane' is beyond confusing...Julie is constantly rewriting, as if to get a better ending. This wouldn’t be so bad if the dialogue weren't so cliché and trite...Who does succeed here are the actors...Katrin Hilbe does a good job in making her actors look good despite this material...'Dear Jane' seems written by somebody with dementia and we are expected to make heads or tails out of fragmented thoughts. In the end, I just needed an aspirin."
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“The first few scenes held promise…There doesn’t seem to hold any reason to these quick succession of scenes, but we are given no time to dawdle on such details…The cast is game to all these quick and rapid-fire scenes...The director does manage to keep it moving and as focused as the text would allow, but doesn’t manage to save it from mangling itself.”
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"There are a lot of talented people doing excellent work on 'Dear Jane'...If only they had a play that was less frustrating than an all-white jigsaw puzzle to work with...I could recommend it...As it is, however, I can’t do that. Nor can I tell you what 'Dear Jane' is about. Which is the problem...Thank goodness the cast was so invested, talented, and magnetic that even though I was floundering, I still felt compelled to watch."
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"Despite trying to cover too much ground at once, this is a well-acted, emotionally charged drama...There are plenty of touching moments of dramatic tension, but perhaps too many to encompass in just one play, to the point where some important moments are sped through to get to the next one...Despite a disorienting beginning and lack of character development, 'Dear Jane' becomes an enthralling play once it gains momentum. Under the direction of Hilbe, it features strong acting."
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"'Dear Jane' is the non-linear, semi-autobiographical story of performance artist Joan Beber. Although the images, art and music of Ms. Beber are fascinating, the story is not captivating. It is too vignette driven to engage the audience fully."
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“Beber’s structure presents a challenge to the audience…Events do not fully develop, and they do not succinctly build upon one another…Any universal message that Beber is trying to convey is undermined by the awkward structure…Hilbe has cast a talented ensemble of actors who must nevertheless play multiple age ranges during different decades, and their efforts are not believable…The talented cast is left without life vests as they try to keep this punctured piece afloat.”
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"Relationships are complicated. Having two twin friends, one who passed away and one named Jane, really put me in the thick of their lives...I must take this time to say how impressed I was with the entire cast. This is not an easy production for these actors. At some point, they all play multiple parts and do it beautifully. This small group of professionals slip in and out of character flawlessly to allow the time lines to merge."
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"'Dear Jane,' a very nice and hardworking play, is tangled in the weeds of the details of its story...The events themselves, jumping from one era to another, and never lasting for more than a minute, don’t coalesce into something substantive. We are left longing, at times overwhelmed, with a lot of details and not much understanding...This play has some serious self-reflection, and where many solo performances that deal with similar content fall short, 'Dear Jane' stands out."
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"Conflict is exactly what is missing from this adequately staged but ultimately flat, confused, and unmoving production...The characters never emerge as anything close to complex individuals, but rather are mere outlines of people...The play is occasionally enlivened by short dance numbers and smatterings of song, but neither that nor the competent acting can overcome the flat characters, stale dialogue, and haphazard structure."
Full Review

See it if
you're drawn to a protagonist who is awful in just about every way, aware of it, and does nothing to improve herself.

Don't see it if
you don't know someone directly involved with the production, and therefore, have no one who will be sad if you're not there.

Also
The play accomplishes nothing beyond allowing the playwright (as protagonist) to confess (without atoning) just how self-absorbed she is. The first sentence of the playwright's note in the playbill reads, "Dear Jane is my most meaningful play."... Read moreRead less

See it if
Although the playwright wrote about the play that “it is about me and my identical twin” it is only about the main character life,told in

Don't see it if
if you are not open to experimental theatre

Also
fragments of time, while her twin is watching over her, throughout the play.There are many questions that remain unanswered for me; this is one of them, also the story being told in small fragments not in chronological order that are revisited over, and over again, in the same disparate order.... Read moreRead less

Also
Dear Jane seems like it could have been a good idea, but it was executed poorly. It was very difficult to follow what was going on, then it ended. The acting was good, though.... Read moreRead less

Also
This is tied with the worst show I've ever seen in my entire life. When a band decides they're going to play at a club, I'm sure the club listens to their music before they play. Who in this theater read this play and decided that hardworking people would want to pay money for this trash? The writer wrote this play about her life and the relationship she had with her sister. While her sister was a minor part of the play, there was minimal connection to her sister. Her and her sister didn't get along because the writer must have the biggest ego in the world. Maybe that's why she never got along with her sister or anyone else. There was nothing good about this play. I feel absolutely horrible that these poor actors have to go on stage and do this every night.... Read moreRead less

See it if
You want to see a play with non linear time lines. You don't mind a play that jumps around so much that it can become tedious to keep up.

Don't see it if
You don't like plays with non linear time lines.

Also
This was not a musical but when the performers did sing, they sounded great. I enjoyed the performers themselves but the story line was very busy and it became a bit frustrating to have to keep jumping from one time period to another.... Read moreRead less